2133: The Basics of 'Basis' Oct 17, 2020

A lot of basics principles (and quirks) of English language history can be seen through the word 'basis'. First off, although the Greek is βάσις (básis) the root first entered English as 'base', and 'basis' entered via a more direct etymological path a few centuries later. Moreover, although it looks completely different, the word is related to 'come'. In Greek, the word means 'step' as in a stair, and likewise even 'step' in English means in a basic sense 'platform' or a measure of walking. Both 'basis' and 'come' are traced back to a Proto-Indo-European root *gʷem-.

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